For her own wedding, Gaskell ended up choosing a ceremony dress by Bon Bride and a party look by Stella McCartney, which she knew she’d be able to rent out afterwards. Meanwhile, other brides have since listed wedding gowns from the likes of Vivienne Westwood, Emilia Wickstead, and Oscar de la Renta on the site, showing the caliber of options available. “I almost wish I was getting married this year because of the level of high-fashion items available to rent,” Gaskell says.
The advantages of renting, as opposed to, say, resale, are two-fold. Firstly, it allows brides to hold on to what is often a very sentimental piece, while still giving it multiple other lives. “A lot of brides are happy to rent [their dress] out, but they don’t quite want to let go of it,” Gaskell continues. “If at some point they do want it back for nostalgia [PS Bridal manages the rented pieces in-house] or they want their daughter to potentially wear it in the future, they have the option.”
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Then, there’s also the opportunity to earn back the money that you originally spent on the dress. Case in point: By Rotation founder Eshita Kabra-Davies, who decided to list her Anushree Reddy lehenga, which she wore for her mehndi, a traditional Indian ceremony, on her app. “I‘ve made all my money back on it, and now more, as it’s on its sixth rental,” Kabra says. “It retails for £1,200.”